Nutritional evaluation of plant-basedmeat products commercialized in Brazil

This study had the objective to evaluate the nutrition profile, explore and identify the main types of plant-based products alternatives tomeat, accessible for purchase in retail in Rio de Janeiro city, Brazil and/or in online platform (e-commerce). A transversal study was conducted with a systematic search of ingredient information of foods available in those platforms and in markets, supermarkets and specific stores of different counties in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Selected products were classified in six subgroups: hamburger, sausage, Italian sausage, plant-meats and mortadella. Then, analyzed according to the composition in protein, carbohydrates, fibers, fat, sodium and additives. There was a greater availability of products in the hamburger subgroup, followed by plant-meats. Products like mortadella showed the highest mean for calories and carbohydrates, mainly as a result of the added starch. Foods like sausage stood out due to the trans-fat and protein amounts detected in the majority of these products due to the soy addition. Hamburgers stood out by the saturated fat content. Overall, a growing variety of meat alternative products was noticed, but regarding the nutrition composition, most of them show great amounts of sodium, fat and additives. Thus, formulation adjustments in products should be required to reach a proper nutrition composition.